


morning

by HeartonFire



Series: let me kiss your lips so i know how it felt [5]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Accidental Kissing, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartonFire/pseuds/HeartonFire
Summary: A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Karen Page
Series: let me kiss your lips so i know how it felt [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014792
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	morning

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by [ninzied](https://ninzied.tumblr.com) from [this prompt list](https://heartonfirewrites.tumblr.com/post/634505813224996864/50-types-of-kisses-writing-prompts). I sort of cheated this one a little, but I hope you like it anyway!

It shouldn’t have surprised her. Not really.

Karen and Frank had always had a rhythm, an understanding between them. It wasn’t always easy, and it wasn’t always seamless, but what they had worked, for what it was.

So, when Frank needed a place to crash for a few days, Karen had assumed things wouldn’t be that different. Frank had collapsed on her couch before, after coming in from a night of activities that left him bloodied and exhausted. He didn’t tell her what those activities were. She didn’t ask.

It was easier than she expected, having him around all the time. Frank was fastidiously neat, folding the blankets on the couch every morning and wiping down the counters when he cooked.

He cooked. That was one thing Karen hadn’t known before. She’d somehow assumed he’d been surviving off canned soup and MREs in his apartment, huddled in a tiny studio in some dark corner of the city.

But now, she knew that Frank made incredible French toast, blueberry pancakes, even pumpkin muffins on one particularly chilly weekend morning. She knew what he looked like with batter streaked up his arms and an apron tied around his waist. She knew how he would watch her take the first bite to make sure she really liked whatever he made and then hide his smile when she told him it was incredible (which it always was).

The few days he was supposed to stay stretched into a week, and Karen certainly wasn’t complaining. She even made him his own key, which he’d taken with shaking fingers that he tried to hide.

Karen liked having him around. At least now she knew he was safe. She could see it for herself. He hadn’t even come home with any new bruises or bullet holes or stab wounds since he’d started sleeping here. Somehow, that felt like something. If Karen could just get him to stay longer, maybe she could keep him this way.

“I’m heading out,” Frank said, grabbing his coat from the hook by the door. 

Karen nodded, sipping her coffee while she leaned against the counter, just like every morning. They had a routine and it was comfortable. It was enough.

Before she realized what was happening, Frank leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek, just once, just light enough that Karen was almost sure she’d imagined it.

And then he left, like nothing was different.

Everything was different. 

Karen was still standing there, frozen, when the door opened again and Frank reappeared. He approached her slowly, eyes wide.

“I just…” he said, and Karen blinked at him. She couldn’t even put together words, and he was still coming closer. Karen had never seen quite this look in his deep brown eyes: fear, caution, maybe even a flicker of hope. “Can I try that again?”

Karen managed to nod her head and the corner of Frank’s mouth quirked up into a tiny smile. He leaned in again and this time, it was no accident.

Frank’s mouth was warm and sure against hers and Karen set her coffee down beside her so she could use both hands to hold Frank to her. 

When he settled against her, his body pressing her into the counter, Karen knew he wasn’t going anywhere. Not this morning.

Not ever again, if she had anything to say about it.


End file.
